No matter how many athletes' lives he might have improved with his orthoscopic breakthroughs, Dr. Frank Jobe's legacy in the sports world will be defined by three words: Tommy John surgery.

Nearly 200 Major League Baseball players - not all of them pitchers - have had their careers extended by the ulnar collateral ligament replacement surgery in their elbow, which Jobe decided to try with the 31-year-old John when he was a Dodgers left-handed pitcher in 1974 and on the verge of retirement.

John went on to pitch another 14 years and win 164 more games, more than the 124 he won in the previous 12 seasons.

Another Dodgers All-Star, Orel Hershiser, came up with an unstable right shoulder in 1990, also at age 31. He added 10-plus seasons after Jobe figured out a way to reconstruct the ligaments in the rotator cuff and joint.

In recognition of his contribution to the sport, the soon-to-be 87-year-old Jobe will be given the Dave Winfield Humanitarian Award by the Professional Baseball Scouts Foundation at their annual "In The Spirit of the Game" banquet Saturday at the Century Plaza Hotel.